Women participation increases as NEC continues the Electoral Law Reform Consultations sponsored by UNDP and Partners.

The participation of women significantly improved during the last Consultative Workshop on Electoral Law Reform that was held in Gbarnga, Bong County from September 11th-12th, 2019.

The two-day Consultation was sponsored by the Elections Basket Fund-European Union, the Governments of Ireland, Sweden and Canada as well as USAID.

The aim was to gain the input from various stakeholders on the proposed changes in the Elections Law of 1986 and the amended Law of 2014.

It was officiated by the Chairperson of the NEC’s Board of Commissioners, Cllr. Jerome George Korkoya.

In his address, Cllr. Korkoya urged participants to “critically review the current Law, identify sections that require modifying and propose the relevant changes”.

Cllr. Korkoya thanked the Development Partners for their continued support to the NEC, particularly in relations to rolling out the Elections Law Reform Consultations in different parts of the country.

In his address, the Deputy Minister of Justice Cllr. Nyanti Tuan, called for active engagement by workshop participants so that their views could be captured on behalf of the people they represent.

Tuan urged participants to “become NEC’s ambassadors and share the information from the event with the people in their communities”.

According to UNDP National Programme Officer, “Women from Lofa, Nimba and Bong County made an impressive turn out for this Consultative Workshop”.

Other special interest groups present included Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and the elderly.

Roosevelt Zayzay thanked the delegates, especially women, for turning up in large numbers and for actively participating in the exercise.

Some of the key deliberations from the workshop included: the proposal to reduce the tenure of Presidential term from six to four years; the proposal for public officials to resign at least two years before the campaign period, the proposal to change the election date from the second Tuesday of October to the second week of November in the election year; the mandatory representation of women in every electoral district and Political Party, among others.

The Gbarnga event concluded the series of Consultations that were conducted by the National Elections Commission in various parts of the country.

Key presentations made during this Workshop included: a session on the “General Administration of the NEC” and a session on the “Constitutional issues for the long-term Reform” that were done by the NEC Senior Legal Officer, Cllr. Teage Jalloh.

Presentations were also made on Voter Registration and Electoral Justice among other presentations.

Participants’ feedback sessions were organized in the form of group work, where participants were divided into groups according to the County they represented.

Views of each group were thereafter shared with the Plenary by one group member for documentation.

Workshop participants included: NEC Magistrates from Lofa, Nimba and Bong Counties; Superintendents from the afore-mentioned Counties, members of Civil Society Organizations, Women Organizations and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), among others.